More fun with child-friendly helpers for personal care
A well-planned bathroom organisation saves unnecessary searching. A fixed place for toothbrushing items, a flannel, soap, shower gel, a towel and even for dirty laundry helps keep things tidy. Sound boring? It isn’t!
Child-friendly, attractive, own bathroom helpers motivate children to take care of their personal hygiene. With colourful toothbrush cups, towels with fun motifs and small tidying helpers for bits and bobs from hair ties to nail scissors, the bathroom finds the balance between comfort and function.
Far from dull: fixed routines ease the burden
Rituals, habits and rules in the bathroom make everyday life easier and clear your mind. A painted plan, a picture collage or simply a list with symbols helps children get used to the processes and keep things tidy:
Don’t leave dirty laundry lying around; put it straight in the laundry basket,
Rinse the toothbrush after use and put it back with the head facing up,
Screw the toothpaste tube closed and put it back in its place,
Put the hairbrush away after use,
Hang the towel up after drying,
Close the toilet lid.
Worth a try: let them do it themselves
Children are more engaged the more they are allowed to do themselves. That’s why things work best in the bathroom when the “ingredients” for getting clean are within reach. Depending on your children’s age, parents will still need to check and do some final scrubbing. But eventually they manage on their own, easing the load for mums and dads.
O•O Hack: to‑do help for independent kids
We’ve also got an O•O Hack for your routine: the DIY Velcro strip can transform the morning routine! Each child gets their own and can decide how it looks and the order of the to‑dos like getting dressed, washing, breakfast, brushing teeth etc. to put on it. Well, putting on shoes and a jacket should perhaps always be at the end of the strip…
We’ve created a download document with lots of pictures for the important to‑dos of the whole day that you can print and use to craft the strip(s). Of course each child can also draw their own pictures. The important thing is to involve the little ones in designing their strips, because that’s the only way it works. From then on the kids are responsible themselves: When a to‑do is completed, they fold over the corresponding picture on the strip – until only ticks are visible. Ready for take‑off!
Since the Velcro‑strip era, our kids are ready in no time. Usually even quicker than us parents. And the mood is better for everyone. A giant step towards independence and a blessing for family harmony.
What you’ll need:
one sheet of card each in red and green
scissors and glue
small self-adhesive Velcro dots
symbol pictures for your personal to‑dos – from our download or self‑designed
pens for colouring the symbols
Of course other paper colours and colouring materials can be used. Be creative and feel free to show us how you’ve designed your “tick‑it strip”.
How to:
Print out the to‑do pictures and the ticks.
Think about how your day/morning/lunchtime/evening runs and set the order of the to‑dos.
Cut out the to‑do pictures that apply to you and the same number of tick boxes. If your card isn’t enough for all your to‑dos, simply make a second “tick” piece.
Fold the green paper in the middle and glue the red to the back. Tip: To make sure the finished “tick” can be folded easily, you can cut the red paper through the middle, shorten both parts by about 1 mm and glue them individually to the inside of the folded green paper.
Now stick the to‑do boxes as straight as possible onto the red inner section (bottom). Caution: Leave a little space between the boxes so you don’t accidentally cut anything away later when snipping.
Once everything is glued, carefully make a cut from the edge to the fold line with the scissors.
Now that you’ve divided the individual to‑do snippets, it’s easier to place the ticks on the (green) outer side. Important: To ensure the ticks are shown the right way round after folding, they must be stuck on upside down.
Almost there! Now just stick on the Velcro dots. Tip: Stick one side of the Velcro dot on first, place the matching piece on it and then simply fold the card over. That way you ensure both sides of the Velcro align.
Extra tips:
Laminate the strip if possible. That way it survives chocolatey fingers & toothpaste splashes.
Instead of Velcro dots you can attach colourful press studs with snap pliers.
Do the children prefer to keep the strips with them rather than hang them up? That works too and saves steps. However, it does increase the risk of having to look for the strips now and then.
When the sense of time is missing
“Hurry up, we have to leave soon!” – children only gradually grasp how long five minutes are or what “soon” and “in a moment” mean. And the fact that mum and dad have to be at work at 8am doesn’t concern them at all when they’re busy finding out how high they can build a tower.
A consistently identical morning routine can help with a less stressful start to the day. Parents can already discuss with very young children how the time between getting up and leaving should run.
Who needs how much time in the bathroom and when?
A bit of planning is necessary. Then everyone gets their turn. Some mums or dads like to get up before the rest of the family to have the bathroom to themselves in peace.
If there’s a crunch at the same time every morning, family members should consider other routines: teenagers can get ready in their rooms, two people can brush their teeth at one basin together, hair can be combed in the hallway. And slow‑to‑get‑going children who find mornings difficult need more time, which parents should factor in.
When to brush teeth in the morning?
Good to know: if you like to start the day with something sweet, you should brush your teeth after breakfast. If you prefer fruit or orange juice, which are more acidic, you should brush before the first meal of the day. Otherwise you risk gradually wearing away the tooth enamel.
